Contrary to everyone's expectations, we weren't attacked by some kind of ancient, aquatic monster on our way to my island. No leviathan showed up, No Ct'hulayi woke up from his deep slumber in order to kill us all and sacrifice us on the altar for the great ones. Instead, we safely managed to reach the shallow waters of my deserted island, and one by one, step ashore.

Seeing the tense faces of everyone as soon as we moved all the boats on the land, I could only smile helplessly. I could tell what kind of thoughts were roaming through their heads, with how they peeked back at the sea.

"Everyone, just like I told you before, we will need those boats later. make sure to drag them as we go!"

There was no point trying to explain to them the magical phenomena of this place. If I were in their place, not only I would have troubles understanding something as grand as this, but there would be absolutely no way I would end up believing it!

"Hey… Wasn't this place supposed to be fertile?"

With Heila continuing to hang from my arm as if she had little trouble walking after our small exercise, she used how close she was to me to pose the question that everyone had in mind. I could tell how everyone was worried if I wasn't going to sacrifice them in some kind of ritual to bring back life to this place…

"You wouldn't understand even if I were to explain it to you. And to be frank, it would take me longer to try to explain than to show it to you. I will need you to follow right beside, otherwise, everyone will be for quite a scare later!"

Keeping in mind the fact that as soon as we would enter the sphere of influence of my stronghold, all those who would step through the boundary first, would disappear in the eyes of everyone else! If I didn't show them that it was just a harmless measure to defend my lands, they would be ready to riot and refuse to follow my lead, despite how close they would be to my paradise!

"Okay? But what scare do you have in mind?"

Looking up to me, she obediently followed my steps as I approached the boundary of the barrier.

"Just stick close to me, and do what I tell you. In exchange, you can make fun of their faces."

Raising my hand forward, I rested my fingertips off the barrier, feeling the ever so slightly vibration of the energy inside, marking the border of the two worlds. One, devoid of any life and mana, and the other, filled with the energy to its brim!

"Everyone! I know how scared are you, but I don't want to give you a heart attack. Just stay where you are for now and watch!"

With these words on my mouth, I turned back to the barrier and simply stepped forward. With Heila tightly clinging to my arm, she had no other choice but to follow right beside me. As we were walking through the barrier, her entire body shook, before the ever-present mana started rushing towards her, nourishing her entire body!

This was something I didn't expect!

With the healthy, pink colours returning to her face, she suddenly straightened up, proving that so far, despite how straight she appeared in my eyes, she was, in fact, keeping a bent posture!

As if unwilling to let this feeling just pass by, she even dropped my arm and stepped forward a few steps, only for the energy nourishment to suddenly stop!

Tsszzzz.

Raising my head towards the source of the sound, I saw my defensive towards turning their muzzles towards our pair, with the mana threateningly gathering in their casting chamber!

Bogner, register her into the quests list!

"Eh? Why not scare her a bit more? Don't you want her to be all clingy with you?"

Wait, so it is your doing? What the hell do you think you are doing right now!

"Seriously? Did you forget that the stronghold forced you to register them only when you entered the proper part of the tower? Eh… Who I was bonded with…"

Seeing the towers deactivating and the mana once again surging towards the girl - albeit at a lower quantity - I realised that Bonger stopped with his teasing. Honestly…. Sometimes he was really overstepping his bounds!

"Take it back, or you will have to register everyone one by fucking one by yourself!"

Ok, ok, I take that back. I would just love if you didn't give me such a scare… I was about to get ready to fight my own home!

"What is this place?"

Almost as if she was dancing around, Heila fluttered all over the place, with every passing second only adding vigour to her movements. If she was so proactive even while devoid of mana, I wonder how would she act in bed after being nourished by a truly powerful source of energy!

"Trust me, this is only the perimeter. Wait until you will see the real deal. Anyway, let's go back for now. If I don't show up with you, they are bound to believe you got devoured by some ancient beast or something along this line…"

While she was having fun and enjoying the moment, I was actually quite concerned about the atmosphere behind our backs, souring with every given moment. But looking at how mana reacted to body enricher like Heila, I had to take my time to check whether she did not drain too much of the energy from the core. Otherwise, letting a hundred people inside could very well lead to the collapse of the entire place!

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

With her fun suddenly stopped, Heila couldn't help but almost trip on her own legs when she saw the faces of the people across the barrier. Even if she could only experience it by the change of the energy density in the air, I assumed she wasn't too stupid to understand that there was something else going on!

"What's with them?"

Once again hanging herself off my arm, she couldn't help but ask.

"That's why I told you its better to show it instead of telling either you or everyone about it. Come on, let's calm them down."

Forcing her to step out of what would seem like a paradise for her, I couldn't help but giggle when everyone outside twitched both in terror and delight when they could finally see us once again.

"Listen up. There is a barrier in place, that prevents anyone outside from peering into the matters inside. From what I just checked, your body will be filled with the energy as soon as you step inside my domain. As you can see, she is all right, not to say - way better than she was just a moment ago. Is that enough for you to hold your fears back for a moment, or do I have to babysit you one by one, or can we just all go in and don't waste the time? It's going to be night soon, and trust me - in this barren place, the nights will get cold!"